Hey Anon, how's your game going so far?
I have several games going but the one I am struggling with most right now is my 5e game.>one character is a changeling who was cribswapped at birth>went off looking for the child he was swapped with>started having weird shadowfell-related dreams>sought out kenku shaman for answers>learned there was a lieutenant of the Raven Queen who was cursed and cast out long ago>now he wants to make his own kingdom on the material plane>what the PCs don't know is, he was turned into a spirit inhabiting the soil of the world, like The Dearth from the Leven Thumps series I read as a kid>about to invade material plane>the changeling is also being hunted by 3 shadar-kai who are his minions>they're also looking for two halves of a staff that combine arcane and divine magic>they also just encountered the kenku's brother who stole something from a dragon and has dragonborn bounty hunters after himI'm trying to make all these pieces fit together in a way that doesn't feel overly-contrived. I left off the last session essentially on the verge of a mini-denouement from the kenku's brother but I need to actually figure out the situation fully before I can decide what info to give them next session.>what is the changeling's actual power? I figured his power game from the night of his conception being when the lieutenant was defeated, and the dark energy tainted him in utero... but why him specifically? >what can he do that actually makes he shadarkai want him dead? see into the enemy's mind? I feel like I already used this plot device, but in another campaign with a totally different group so maybe it's okay>now I need an artifact involved that the kenku are trying to use to help the changeling defeat the shadowfell lieutenant>I usually don't have trouble with names but I'm having a hard time creating a memorable name for the "Loam Lurker" or "Soil Lord" that actually sticks in my mind.I'll figure it out eventually but I don't want to commit to lore that I'll regret later
slowly, that's for sureone of the people involved is the lowest effort human being there is and will spend 10 minutes trying to find an ez-pz button on a roll20 character sheet instead of typing in /roll 4d10
>>98110563Finished a campaign where the party chased a lich all the way up the path to godhood and fought him in the astral plane. Now I'm having one of my players take a crack at being a DM for a while so I can prepare for the next campaign, which will be more grounded.
It's the easiest and most evocative custom setting imaginable - 7th century Eastern Mediterranean - but I've somehow written myself into a corner. The PCs have just finished destroying an Ankhrav infestation plaguing the farmlands of the Antioch analogue, and are now heading more north to a place called the "Valley of Unnumbered Dead," which was the site of a devastating battle between the Nicomedian Empire and Kadeshahr (Byzantines and Sassanids, respectively. It's the Battle of Nineveh analogue.) What's hard is that I'm having trouble finding good art that conveys the battle, and what to make for them to find there. I have them set up to fight a Leukodaemon that is there for... Reasons (he's using the despair-rich corpse-soil to produce new blights and buboes through fungal/plant growth) but for some reason the whole thing feels a little shallow, like I'm giving them excuses to fight rather than a good reason to fight. I guess my big issue is that I feel like I've got the PCs stuck in the "wandering around" quagmire when the hallmark of a 7th century Byzantine game is dealing with palace politics.
>>98110563>Descent into Avernus with Cute Redneck ElfCampaign finished 2 months ago. However, table fell apart due to scheduling issues on everyone.>New campaignI found a new table (or rather they found me) so we started a new campaign. It's highly political game of thrones type shit in an original setting of the DM. It's fun for now but DM's wife is giving birth so we're on hiatus for 2 weeks. I like the new table. DM is very dedicated and he is picking us all up by himself with car and dropping as back as soon as session is finished. Never had I had such a dedicated DM.
>>98110563I'm happy that my Cleric didn't become black dragon food.A shame now he's face to face with a Dream Vestige he can't really hit.Also, -5 int and cha.
>>98110563Not too bad. I’m in the planning stages for a sequel/epilogue mini-campaign following my last major campaign. The first sequel/epilogue went pretty well, following one main campaign PC and a few side characters as they investigated a strange shortage of a medication needed by one of that PC’s friends. They stumbled onto a rather dangerous plan by a young dragon that would have seriously upset the balance of power in the region.We’ll be doing something similar with a different PC following his wife to her home country, which she has to do to entry their newborn into the family register. They’re going to get caught in a demonic ritual triggered by a revenge killing.
I playtested the zombie game I wrote last week. Got 2 games. Went pretty well.
>>98110811>the one I am struggling with most right now is my 5e gameClassic.
>>98110563Going really well, we about to hit our one year anniversary of the campaign.Two sessions ago, we defeated Kalak, Sorcerer King of Tyr and last session was about the aftermath of the king being killed. Turning the Ziggurat into a memorial of those lost for its creation, getting tons of lore dropped, our Cleric doing some really good rp, and deciding where to go next.Really looking forward to the next session.
>>98111782Don't feel pressured to follow the idea you had months ago if what's currently working is fun for everyone at the table.
>>98112182I'm also running a Savage Worlds game and a Traveller game if you'd like to hear about those.
>>98111782When you're looking to add intrigue to a fight, it's probably easiest to create a person or faction that doesn't want it to happen, and one that does. Was the monster summoned by a noble that wants to sabotage a trade route in order to make another noble lose face? Is someone trying to make the army look weak—or, conversely, looking to make the army look like it's necessary and has important things to do? Stuff like that. You don't even need to tell the players ahead of time if it's too late; you can put clues in the encounter itself. >>98112182D&D has plenty of problems, but what about that anon's post makes you think that D&D is the issue here?>inb4 didn't read past the first line
>>98110563We're about to start a new campaign in that official Stormlight RPGFrom a cursory glance the settings seems unbeleviably lame and gay
>>98112085How was the original game?>>98112234I think I remember you from the character thread last week.>>98112362>From a cursory glance the settings seems unbeleviably lame and gayHow so?
>>98112450>I think I remember you from the character thread last week.If you're referring to the Tiefling Templar, then that's the one.Admittedly, I like talking about my character. The campaign has been fun and I recently finished The Verdant Passage book.
>>98112301This is such an important lesson to learn; it you’re drowning in plots and intrigue, cut them off.
We approach session 52 as the party has finally left speeding away from their home base at the spaceport, bringing all their research crew, vessels, and small mercenary battalion with them. They have betrayed some very dangerous people in the process. They aim to build the jump drive that will take them to the interdimensional source of their strange drug-fueled dreams. They’ve poured millions of reichsmarks and crypto into this project that has taken years IRL and in game.What started as an excited crew finding lost technology allowing for FTL communication could end up with their characters becoming self aware that they are vessels for the players, culminating in the opportunity to become the GM of the world itself, or risk nihilistic self-aware NPCs ending all of their existence. This has been building awhile and I’m worried I could execute some of it poorly on my end, but it’s been a very fun campaign for the past few years. I thank the anon who recommended Traveller and Skorkowsky here. It’s certainly become a crazy story.
>>98110563I'd say pretty good. Our next game is Friday, and the players spent the last session finishing a dungeon they entered the game prior, and carousing the city to sell the treasure they got and having some good in character roleplaying.They've told Me they plan to actually sell the treasure and explore an undiscovered location on the map. Said location is an old elven temple, with a dryad tied up in it who's being power-leeched to fuel plagues and locusts to fuck up the crops of the human kingdom. In the ruins of the village surrounding the temple, the PCs can find a teleportation circle identical to the one they found at the end of the last dungeon, suggesting this is connected to the strange elf they encountered at the end (who almost immediately fucked off through the circle when the PCs entered his room).
>>98112450>How was the original game?It was the single best campaign any of us have ever been part of, running for three years of eight-hour sessions. The PCs started off as local ne'er-do-wells, gained recognition for their deeds as local heroes, proceeded to be recognized/appointed as regional princes, and eventually made their mark on history as figures of legend. Some of their early antagonists eventually became allies--with varying degrees of willingness--while the downfall of others would sometimes lead to further conflicts, like the wealthy patrician whose fall fed into extant social turmoil.Nobody expected the campaign to run as long as it did. The moments that the players had assumed would cap off their characters' development ended up being mere steps along their paths. With so much time and material to work with, we got to really dive into things, including a 142-line prophecy, a nonlinear dungeon in which every door took you to a different iteration of the dungeon in addition to a different room, and several instances of thwarting fey bargains by slicing up Gordian knots.And the best part was that it all flowed naturally. No part of it felt contrived, with every development building quite naturally on the last. When the players were caught off-guard by something, it was always something that they laughed at themselves for failing to see in advance--especially since, in at least a few cases, they had directly and materially contributed to the factors that led to the outcomes in question.And, for the final session, I was able to rope in some of my old players that hadn't been at the table in years, getting them to reprise heroes of legends from bygone eras, called forth once more to stand beside the reluctant heroes of the modern age and hold the line against forces that would dominate and twist the world into a mockery of itself.
>>98112762As someone who’s always wanted to try running Traveler and has a group of players willing to play it, what would you recommend as a fun “starter” job that can lead into bigger ventures if people are vibing with the game?
>>98110563First session was pretty good! But we're having to take a few week break because work is fucking me now. Playing Mausritter with a bunch of complete ttrpg newbs. It was fun, I think I did a good job of introducing them to the hobby.
>>98111972>DM is very dedicated and he is picking us all up by himself with car and dropping as back as soon as session is finished. Never had I had such a dedicated DM.That is incredible. I hope all this Man's dreams come true.
>>98112314Nta but I am, what's your sw game about?
>>98112900My campaign is very ridiculous and not a model of what I imagine the usual is, but I’d recommend setting them up for the usual sort of trading campaign. Give the crew a free trader, maybe it’s from a sketchy crime boss or corrupt authority making the travellers a patsy. Give them a simple delivery job from point A to B. They get halfway there (or all the way there) and realize “oh shit we’re delivering a bomb/drugs/foreign intelligence in this shitty rust bucket!” Involve the inner workings of the ship somehow, like how cartel dudes hide coke in cars across the border. Give the ship character and make sure you have an encounter or two on board. By the end of resolving the job you have a setup for digging deeper into the politics/mystery of the situation, and a ship to do so on. Involve multiple interested parties or patrons if you wish. From there let the players express an interest in their goals and follow that. My crew decided they wanted to ship luxury perishables from one end of the subsector to another, and stumbled into some ancient science labs that revealed some inventions that stood to change the local politics significantly. They kept following that lead and trade took a backseat but was always present. Still, that ship stuck with them. Instead of d&d giving your characters new powers, they get more money to upgrade the ship, and patrons to take on more jobs. The more they succeed, the deeper their own influence goes and the more crazy shit they can buy, and at some point those patrons become very powerful people in your world.Mongoose has a few good starters too, I recommend “High and Dry” if you want a module.
>>98112937I've also got two other games going on, one group is running shadowdark, it's just a single session in so far, not sure how it's gonna go. So far, Shadowdark doesn't seem to have much of an identity.Also playing a CoC game. It's incredible, it's being run by my friend who's really only done d&d so far, he's fucking killing Call. It takes place in a small town in the 50s and hes bringing in a lot of red scare and UFO shit. Tons of fun so far.
>>98112946>I hope all this Man's dreams come true.He has a car, a flat, a wife and now a child. Dunno how many dreams are left to be come true, but I wish so too.
>>98111972>DM is very dedicated and he is picking us all up by himself with car and dropping as back as soon as session is finished. Never had I had such a dedicated DM.>letting them leave that earlyWhen I bought my current house, I specifically looked for one with enough guest rooms that my players can all stay the night after session. We recap and discuss sessions over breakfast.
>>98110563It's been rough getting the gang together lately, that's life though. There's two games I swap between with the same group, very difficult tones.>Pokemon Tabletop Adventures 3They're innawoods fighting other trainers, soon to receive news that the rangers want some nests cleared out. They're killing time before a big tournament comes to the city, and I shamelessly stole characters from Yu-Gi-Oh to populate the brackets. Weevil as a bug catcher, Kaiba as a dragon tamer, Rex Raptor with the fossils, that sort of thing. They recently bought a van which is a blessing and a curse. Now they can easily skip travel encounters, but I can have the van break down sometimes and have them fix it. Even "you have to get out and have Magnemite jump the battery" could facilitate an encounter. There's places it can't go too. No gym badges yet.>Dark Heresy 1eThey're about to leave a hive via train which is a good opportunity for a train robbery attempt by the native Kroot, very cowboys and indians. Thier plan is to use trucks with harpoons to attach themselves to the rear most car and crawl along the ropes while their mounted guys take potshots and throw harpoons with smoke grenades attached to inhibit LOS from the windows/gun slits. From there they'll fight their way though as many cars as they can before detaching them, looting them, and eating everyone inside. I'm open to ideas on defenses and environmental hazards for the encounter, so far I have stubber turrets, sandstorms, debris on the tracks as a delaying action, an ambush from an overhead bridge, and a tunnel. Inside I have power outages, panicking civilians, loose luggage, and a hallway ambush. Kroot can mimic voices so they'll scream for help to pull defenders into unfavorable positions. Kroot have stats in all the FFG games, so I'm using the RT stats for grunts, DW for braves, and OW for leaders/specialists.
>>98110563The Aquacats
I finished GMing a Lancer game a few weeks ago, it was an enjoyable time but by the end of the campaign combat got pretty wacky and rules-lawyery with everyone at like LL9, i highly recommend to stop a game at like 6.Currently playing through a PTR game with a group i met here, its been really fun so far and everyone's pretty invested, coming up on about 6 months which is nice for an online game with random.I think i might start up a PtbA game with some friends soon, I'm in the mood for something more RP focused.
>Ask friends to try new game because I'm really interested in it>They agree>Give them the PDF so they can read it>None of them read itI'm going to an hero
>>98110563Currently running two Conan 2d20 games. They were supposed to be short and sweet but things have gotten a little out of control and the scope keeps getting bigger. I am afraid I won't be able to wrap up both of them before summer vacations kill both of them. Btw Conan 2d20 is a fun system with some very neat ideas but it's generally a mess and errata are kinda hard to find since it dropped out of print. One of my players wants as to go to 5e next. I 've never run 5e but I believe it won't be much trouble. I would really love for us to try my unplaytested homebrew but I lack the balls to put it out.
>>98110563>Hey Anon, how's your game going so far?It's going great, anon, thanks for asking.I'm having so much fun juggling a couple of campaigns, one is in Vaults of Vaarn, another is in The Exclusion Zone, and another is in Night City 2045.
>>98119089Expand on the VoV game plz.
The d&d game is chugging along so far more or less. Starting to show signs od winding down as some players are starting to flake and the narrative is running out of steam as most sessions just turn into half-assed excuses on why we are dungeon crawling each week. But I am still having a good time so will keep going until the dm calls it quits. Got a upcoming risus one shot I am running for friends in a week And solo game is going well.
